This Is What It Looks Like To Get Tattooed By Lightning

Last year 24-year old Winston Kemp was struck by lightning. He didn’t feel the shock when it happened, but he sure as hell noticed when his arm began to develop searingly painful blisters an hour later. What happened is a phenomenon called Lichtenberg figures, which are described on Wikipedia as “branching electric discharges that sometimes appear on the surface or the interior of insulating materials.” In this case, the “insulating material” was Kemp’s skin.

Kemp’s Lichtenberg figures faded over time, but some light scarring remained. Maybe he should have had a tattoo artist permanently outline the original mark, which was pretty awesome to be honest. Plus, he would have had the best tattoo story to pick up women.